Motorcyclist dies in hospital overnight

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A motorcyclist injured in an crash in Tamahere died in hospital overnight, making his the third Waikato road death in a week.

Christiaan Ivan Minnee, 36, was taken to Waikato Hospital with critical injuries after a collision with a ute on Bruntwood Rd Tamahere about 8.30am on Monday.

District road policing manager Inspector Freda Grace said the crash is still being investigated by the Waikato Serious Crash Unit.

"It appears Mr Minnee was on his Ducati motorbike behind a line of traffic and accelerated to pass it when the vehicle at the front of the queue has turned right into a driveway, resulting in a tragic and avoidable loss of life."

On Saturday, Ngatea man Robert Charles Barr, 61, was killed and four others injured when a van and two cars heading south were involved in a crash with a northbound 4WD vehicle towing a trailer at the intersection of State Highway 1 and Hautapu Rd shortly before 4.20pm.

Earlier in the week, Hamilton man Scott Walker, 47, was killed in a violent road crash near Tokoroa that ripped out the car's engine. Mr Walker was travelling south between Tokoroa and Taupo in a left-hand drive 1969 black Chevrolet Corvette on Wednesday night when he crashed shortly after overtaking a truck about 8.45pm.

Five days ago, a 48-year-old motorcyclist crashed his bike into a barbed wire fence after failing to negotiate a corner, Mrs Grace said.

The rider was seriously injured, and is still recovering in hospital.

Police, emergency services, families and the community are being left to pick up the pieces too often, Mrs Grace said.